L.B. Pride weekend to include numerous events

The city is set to welcome thousands of people this weekend for its first Long Island Pride celebration, and officials on Thursday urged visitors to take advantage of public transportation and free parking that’s being provided for the event.

Pride on the Beach, organized by the LGBT Network, is set to take place June 9 to 11 and is expected to attract at least 10,000 people over the course of the weekend.

It will include a parade, a 5K race and a family fun run on the boardwalk, a beach concert, a boat parade along Reynolds Channel, a Shabbat service, a beach party and activities, a market fair with hundreds of vendors, a cabaret night at the library, a memorial paddle-out, programs for LGBT youth, and a Taste of Long Beach among other events aimed at driving visitors to local shops and restaurants, organizers said.

Additionally, the free parking will also be available at Long Beach Middle School and Long Beach High, Oceanside High School, Town Park at Point Lookout and fields in Lido Beach.

The LIRR is running five additional trains during anticipated peak hours throughout the weekend, and the bus and trolley service free at parking and other areas to residents and tourists with beach passes. Schnirman also encouraged visitors to use the city’s Social Bikes to get around to avoid traffic.

“Long Beach is a wonderful family friendly destination for everyone to visit,” Schnirman said. “Our administration is proud to be both progressive and inclusive, and throughout this process of preparing and promoting for this event, we’ve kept our residents informed every step of the way, as always, with our website, social media, Long Beach Response app, email blasts and direct mail along with our summer events guide and the Pride FAQ that was mailed to every house in Long Beach.”

Schnirman said that multiple law enforcement agencies are working together to provide security, including the Long Beach Police Department, Nassau County police, New York State police and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police. The city’s Fire Departments will also be on standby, with assistance from other nearby departments.

“We couldn’t be happier or feel more safe for this weekend,” said David Kilmnick, a Long Island Pride co-founder and chief executive officer of the LGBT network.

The parade on June 11, called Rise with Pride, is expected to draw 5,000 to 7,000 participants when it steps off at noon, and is the official solidarity march for the tri-state area. The parade route, which begins at Laurelton Boulevard, was recently changed to minimize traffic issues and will now proceed down Broadway to Long Beach Boulevard.

More than 85 groups are marching, Kilmnick said. A handful of groups will march for the first time, including the NCPD, the Suffolk County Police Department, the Suffolk County Drum Corps and local Boy Scout troops. Additionally, 25 schools from across Long Island will bring their Gay-Straight Alliance clubs to participate in the festivities.

A number of faith-based organizations will also be marching in the parade, Kilmnick said. 

“It is the largest number of groups we have ever had marching in the Long Island Pride parade,” he said.

The parade will be followed by a beach concert at 1 p.m. at Long Beach Boulevard, where singer Rachel Platten will headline and perform her 2015 hit single “Fight Song.”

Kilmnick said that a stage with a runway is being installed on the beach, and that other acts, including a Lady Gaga cover band and West Babylon native Nick Tangorra, known for his song “Boo Hoo,” would also perform at the concert. Saturday’s beach party, meanwhile, will feature a performance by DJ Zeke Thomas and a number of smaller acts, as well as beach activities such as surf lessons with Skudin Surf and an I.FLY Trapeze show.

The festivities will also include performances by local Long Beach musicians on a smaller band shell called “Pride Stage” at Riverside Boulevard beach on Friday and Saturday. 

Saturday will also include an Out in the West End event with about 14 bars and restaurants offering special happy hour deals from 6 to 8 p.m., Kilmnick said, based on feedback from owners who asked that organizers do more to include West End businesses.

Kilmnick said 150 people have already registered for the Nature’s Bounty Co. 5K run on Saturday and that he expects to sell out of all 300 number bibs.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., a group of 49 surfers will form a circle on their boards in the ocean for a memorial paddle-out service that will honor the people killed in last year’s Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, the largest mass shooting in American history, on its one-year anniversary.    


Other noteworthy events:


Shabbat Service: June 9, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El of Long Beach.
The Nature’s Bounty Co. Pride 5K Run: June 10, from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. The timed 5K will span the length of the boardwalk.
Family Fun Run: June 10, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Beach Party: June 10, from 12 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, will feature live DJs, music and a fashion show presented by Colette Lee Inc. Productions and the NY Fit Fest, where models will show off swimsuits provided by Unsound surf shop.
Pride Boat Parade: June 10 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The LGBT Network welcomes the Knickerbocker Sailing Association and their fleet of sailboats and cruisers to participate in the first Pride Boat Parade along Reynold’s Channel.
Memorial paddle-out: June 11, from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The LGBT Network will honor the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting with a memorial paddle-out at Long Beach Boulevard on the first anniversary of the tragedy.

For more information and a full list of events, visit www.lipride.org.